A House Is Not a Home
by thesoundofsunshine
Summary: When I climb the stair and turn the key, oh, please be there, still in love with me


**I had gotten a bit inspired by the latest episode of Glee where Chris Colfer is singing this song. It gave me goosebumps, and I have officially fallen in love with the song. If you haven't heard his version, or any version for that matter, you should YouTube it. You shouldn't be disappointed.**

**Note: The characters are a lot older in this oneshot; picture them at like twenty-three.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the song "A House Is Not a Home", or Camp Rock. Wow. Way to put a damper on my day.**

"Dammit Mitchie!" Shane hollered making everything in the room quiver. He slammed the door with such verbatim that shocked me into a stupor. It took me a minute to realize that he had left. I slumped onto our bed with the crumpled sheets before screaming out like a wild banshee. I banged my hand against his pillow as a palpable cloud of his signature scent wafted into the room.

The phone started ringing in the living room. I couldn't bring myself to actually answer the damn phone. I was too busy focusing on the fact that he had left, yet again. It was only the second Wednesday of the month and it was our fourth fight. Each time he had walked out, leaving me in a mess worse than the time before. I loved him too much for me to ever leave him which took a serious toll on my emotions. The caller had been instructed to leave a message by the automated recording.

"Mitchie? Shane?" Caitlyn's voice rang through the room. I tried to stop the beginning of hyperventilating along with the Rio Grande. I sniffled as I got off of the bed. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before picking the phone off of the cradle.

"Hi," I whispered trying to keep my voice steady. I didn't want her to know that he walked out again. I bit my lip trying to hold in the sobs. He was slowly breaking my heart into a million pieces.

"Mitchie! I have so much to tell you about when Nate and I" – I ended up sobbing into the phone at this point, praying that she didn't hear it – "doubled with Jason. Are you okay?" Her voice instantly went from excitement to concern the moment the sob escaped my lips.

"I'm fine," I said, my voice slightly quivering. I could practically see her disapproving glance that knew I was lying.

"You're coming over my place," Caitlyn affirmatively said as the phone clicked. I gently dropped the phone back onto the cradle. I slumped onto the loveseat and decided to blast out my thoughts with the radio. I picked up the remote, and let the music of rock flow. It felt good to let something let my emotions flow out. It felt amazing to have the sound of the reverberating walls from him leaving to be pushed out of my head.

* * *

I woke up with the absolute worst headache I had ever experienced. I vaguely remembered the radio playing in the background before Caitlyn whisked me away to her apartment. I tried to remember more after Shane had left. As my stomach rocked, I remembered the bottle of Jack Daniels I had emptied trying to forget about the events of the night.

I groped for the bedside radio in Caitlyn's extra room. I knew her and Nate were planning on turning this into a child's room, but for now it was the room I inhabited when Shane and I had our spats. I turned it down so I could barely hear it. It was melodic with a sweet male voice ringing over it. It was a song I knew. It was a song I had heard a long time ago.

"... When there's no one there to hold you tight, and no one there you can kiss goodnight," I fumbled for the lyrics, singing off-key from the voice. I kept my singing voice hushed because hitting the high notes would have given me the worst headache.

"A room is still a room, even when there's nothing there but gloom..." I let the man on the radio sing before I figured out where I had heard this song before. My mom used to play it as she danced around the house with a feather duster in her hand.

"When the two of us are far apart, and one of us has a broken heart," I softly sang, clutching the pillow to my chest as if I could hold the shattered pieces of my heart together from the outside.

"Now and then I call your name, and suddenly your face appears," The man sang his voice reaching higher notes as the line went on. I curled my body around the pillow that was still grasped against my chest. My head started to pound because I sang the next lines louder than the radio even called for.

"But it's just a crazy game, and when it ends, it ends in tears," I sang with a throbbing head that seemed to take away from the pain in my chest. Tears were making their way down my cheeks as I smacked the radio from the table. It immediately stopped the lyrics from flowing.

"Mitchie?" Nate tentatively pushed the door open, obviously afraid that I would be vicious. I have attacked him in a fit of rage because of a fight with Shane. I knew I was taking it out on the wrong people, but I couldn't help myself.

Nate didn't say a word. He just stepped into the room and cautiously made his way across the floor. I held the pillow to my chest as if it was a lifeline that was needed to keep my heart together. I hiccupped as he sat on the edge of the bed. The silence in the room was crushed by my broken sobs. I flung myself onto Nate's lap as I continued crying. He comfortingly smoothed out my hair as he has done four times just this month.

"I need to go home," I suddenly pleaded, tears still gushing from beneath my eyelids. I had squeezed my eyes shut as if they would stop the tears from flowing.

"You're in no condition to go home," Nate said with a dazed expression. I usually moped around until Shane arrived at their door begging for forgiveness. I sat up to stare him straight in the eye. The motion made me a bit dizzy.

"I need to go home," I said with a less compelling argument than before. Something just tugged me in the decision of going back to where I belong. Even if it was just an empty house.

"Let me drive you at least," Nate said getting off the bed. I followed him, trying not to trip over my own two feet. I made it to the elevator and into the car in one piece as the tears subsided.

"A room is not a house, and a house is not a home when the two of us are far apart, and one of us has a broken heart. Now and then I call your name, suddenly your face appears. But, it's just a crazy game and when it ends, it ends in tears," I silently sang to myself in the otherwise silent car. Nate didn't say a word as he drove me home.

"Do you want me to walk you in?" Nate asked as the engine idled. I shook my head.

"No," I insisted along with the movement. Nate wished me well, promised he would wait till I got in, and that he would be home all day if I wanted company.

"So darling, have a heart, don't let one mistake keep us apart. I'm not meant to live alone, turn this house into a home," I sang, remembering the rest of the lyrics, once I closed the door with a slight bang. I didn't want to aggravate my head any more than I had to. I had enough internal pain that couldn't be healed.

I waved to Nate before I took the four shaky steps up to my front door. I dug in my pocket for my key. I checked my other front pocket. I was hoping not to look too frazzled and out of it because I really didn't want Nate to be here with me. I was able to handle this on my own. I found a ball of lint before grasping the silver key in my hand.

"When I climb the stair and turn the key, oh, please be there," I silently sang the rest of the last verse as I pushed the key into the lock. I heard it all click into place as I turned the key and pushed the door open.

I left the key on the table near the door. I stepped across the floor of the empty house with the dark hardware floors that Shane and I had picked out. I checked the phone for any new messages. It read zero messages. I sat on the couch and stared out the large bay window. Nate was still sitting in his car on the street.

"Please be there, still in love with me," I whispered the lyrics that I had stopped the radio from saying earlier this morning with my eyes closed. It was the line my mom sang to me every night while she tucked me in. It was the line she adored, and rang true for me.

"Mitchie, I'm sorry."

**What did you all think of this oneshot? I'd love to hear what any reader had to say about this.**


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